


Let It Go

by heyjupiter



Category: Breaking Bad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 00:46:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3189485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyjupiter/pseuds/heyjupiter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike Ehrmantraut just wanted his granddaughter's school to have a nice Winter Carnival. He didn't mean to volunteer to run a PTA subcommittee to plan the thing, and he certainly didn't mean to attract the help of high-strung PTA treasurer Lydia Rodarte-Quayle. Can they work together--for the sake of the children?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let It Go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sylvestris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylvestris/gifts).



> For the purposes of this AU, I've fudged the ages of the children of the Breaking Bad universe. I also fudged the timeline in order to give the children the gift of a post- _Frozen_ world. Also, none of the adults are drug dealers.
> 
> Merry Blue Christmeth, Sylvestris! I love your Soccer AU and this is somewhat inspired by that.

Mike quietly worked on his crossword throughout the majority of Marie Curie Elementary School's PTA meeting. He didn't give a shit about the principal's welcoming remarks, or the announcement of upcoming standardized testing. He wrote OLIO in 3 across while Mrs. Michaels talked about the success of the fall costume parade. He solved several tricky clues while Lydia, the high-strung PTA treasurer gave her budget report and noted the need for increased participation in the Market Day fundraiser.

Finally, the time came for questions, and Mike raised his hand politely. "Yes, I was just wondering why the school won't be having its Winter Carnival this year."

"That's a great question," Gus, the PTA president, said. "I know a lot of students have very fond memories of the Winter Carnival. Lydia, would you care to answer?"

Lydia huffed and said, "There just isn't the money for it this year. Do you know how much it costs the school to run the Winter Carnival?"

Mike shrugged. "A couple hundred bucks, maybe? They're elementary schoolers. My granddaughter just wants a balloon. She was _very_ disappointed when we didn't see the carnival on this quarter's schedule."

"Last year, the PTA spent three hundred forty-seven dollars and fifty cents on the Winter Carnival!" Lydia said, carefully enunciating each word. "And, as I'm sure you heard from my report, we do not have that kind of money this year."

"Isn't the carnival supposed to be a fund raiser?" Mike asked.

" _Supposed_ to be, yes," Lydia said. "I'm afraid last year's ran significantly over budget and failed to raise any funds whatsoever. This is my first year as PTA treasurer and I do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past."

"Well, surely we could re-use some of the things from past years? Things like that big cardboard igloo, kids could take pictures with it?" Mike asked. He had a photo of Kaylee with the igloo on his fridge.

"Regrettably, many of those items were destroyed in the fire last summer," Gus said.

"Well, is any of it left?" Mike asked.

"I believe a few things were salvaged, yes," Gus said.

"Couldn't we get some parents to volunteer, get some of this stuff together? If I'm not mistaken, is that not the function of the PTA?" Mike asked.

"Are _you_ volunteering to spearhead a Winter Carnival committee?" Gus asked.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

Gus nodded. "Well, that sounds reasonable to me. All in favor of Mike Ehrmantraut leading a Winter Carnival exploratory meeting?" All the board members except Lydia voted in his favor. "Very well, the ayes have it," Gus said. "Those interested in joining the committee may speak with Mike after our full meeting adjourns. Is there any other new business to address?"

Mike solved two more clues while a woman asked about gluten-free cafeteria options. 

When the meeting finally adjourned, small groups of adults milled around, getting in a few more moments of adult conversation in before the co-op child care ended at 8pm. A loud throat clear caused Mike to look up from his crossword and see that a handful of people were standing in front of him.

"Yo, are we doing a Winter Carnival or what?" asked a young man in a hideous T-shirt. To Mike's eye, he looked barely too old to be an elementary school student himself.

"Oh, good," Mike said. 

"I mean, I'm kinda good at art, I bet I could make a new cardboard igloo or whatever. Or something even better maybe," the kid said. "Not tonight, though. I gotta pick up Brock in like three minutes. I just wanted to say, maybe I could help."

"Great," Mike said. "Here, let me get your contact information." He passed over his newspaper and pencil. "Just write it in the margins."

Mike passed around the newspaper to the few other adults who had gathered around him. "I'll email you all soon. Maybe we can meet this weekend?"

"This weekend's no good for me," a middle-aged man with a shaved head said. "I have the kids."

"Well, it's fine for _me_ ," replied a middle-aged blonde woman.

"Okay, well, I'll set up a Doodle," Mike said, exasperated. "We're just exploring options, right?"

"Right," the man conceded.

"I'm glad you're doing this. I think it'll be fun," the woman said.

"Yeah, well, we'll see how it goes. Look, we all gotta go get our kids now, so I'll be in touch," Mike said. He nodded and strode briskly toward the gym. Lydia stopped him before he entered the noisy room.

"Wait," she said.

"It's just a committee to explore options, see what we can get from volunteer labor and donations. I promise, I'm not gonna rob the PTA treasury."

"Of course. It's just, I'd like to be a part of it. Let me give you my contact information."

Mike shrugged and handed over his newspaper and pencil. She looked at the margins and said, "So you, Jesse Pinkman, Walter White, and Skyler Lambert are going to run a carnival?"

"We're going to explore our options regarding the feasibility of running the Winter Carnival, yes."

Lydia shook her head. "You are definitely going to need my help, then," she said, adding her information in small, precise lettering.

"I'll send out a Doodle poll," Mike said. He tucked the newspaper into his jacket pocket and took Kaylee home to her mom. Then, back at his place, he poured himself a drink and sent out the poll. Scheduling a time when all five of them could meet proved more difficult than he had anticipated. As a retired cop, Mike had plenty of free time. It turned out that Skyler was an accountant and had a pretty firm 9-5 schedule. Walter was a high school teacher. They shared custody of their daughter, but thought they could leave Holly with their aunt and uncle. But only on a day when Skyler had custody of the kids, because they wouldn't do any favors for Walter. Jesse worked at a local cabinet maker with flexible hours, but often had to watch Brock because Andrea was a nurse. The tricky thing was that Lydia apparently worked a huge number of hours at her office, and, in a string of increasingly terse emails, insisted that they not have their first meeting without her. 

Finally, it was decided that they could all meet the following Saturday morning at 10am, when Kiira Rodarte-Quayle and Holly White both had soccer practice for the local parks & rec league and Jesse's girlfriend Andrea was off work to watch Brock, on the condition that they meet somewhere near the soccer field in case there was an emergency. Lydia suggested a coffee shop meeting her parameters, to which everyone else acquiesced.

Since he was nominally in charge of the committee, Mike figured he should come up with some kind of plan. He talked to Kaylee when he picked her up from school and asked what she liked about the last year's Winter Carnival. Then he wrote down her ideas in a list:  
balloons  
duck pond game  
cotton candy  
sparkles  
hanging out with Stephanie

It seemed pretty straightforward to Mike, as long as Stephanie's parents would let her attend. But when he arrived at The Coffee Hound on Saturday morning, he quickly learned that things were not as simple as he and Kaylee had thought.

He'd brought a pencil and a composition notebook. Lydia had a file folder packed with forms and a laptop. In between sips of tea, she explained about the school's insurance policy and which of many possible activities would invalidate their coverage.

"Okay," Mike said. "So what _can_ we do?"

"I could do facepainting," Jesse volunteered. "That shouldn't be too dangerous, right?"

"As long as you use face paint for sensitive skin," Lydia allowed. 

"Sure, I can get that. I'll have Andrea help me pick it out."

Mike wrote down "Face paint - Jesse" in his notebook.

"I could do some kind of chemical demonstrations," Walter offered. "Maybe with dry ice? That's always very dramatic."

Lydia's eyebrows went far up.

"You could do the dry ice ice cream," Skyler said. "Your students always like that."

"If we start offering homemade food, it's a whole new level of liability," Lydia said. "And it can exclude kids with allergies."

"Yeah, that's a good point," Jesse said. "Like Brock's best friend is allergic to red dye and I always feel like an idiot when I forget. But we could get those Allergy Bears to give out."

Now Mike's eyebrows went up. "Allergy Bears?" he asked.

"Uh, maybe that's not exactly what they're called, I forget. They're like gummy bears, but for kids who are allergic to stuff? They have like basically nothing in them. And they're organic and shit. We try keep some around for when Drew comes over."

"Those are expensive," Lydia reminded them. "The whole issue here is that the PTA doesn't have any money to fund the carnival."

"Okay, so, we'll figure out food later," Mike said. "I could probably set up one of those boards with the balloons, where the kids throw a dart to pop them?"

"You want elementary school kids to throw darts in the gym?" Lydia asked.

Mike had to concede the point there. "A bean bag throw, then." Lydia nodded her approval.

Skyler said, "We should ask some of the elementary school teachers, too. I know in Holly's classroom they have a ring toss game that I bet we could use."

"Well, that sounds highly educational," Walter muttered.

"She's in _kindergarten_ ," Skyler said. 

"I'm well aware of what grade she's in."

"I'd appreciate it if you could save your issues for another time," Mike said firmly. 

"Yes, we only have another 30 minutes before I need to pick Kiira up from soccer."

"Soccer isn't over for another hour," Skyler said.

"I know, but I like to make sure I'm there early," Lydia said. "Just in case."

"I need a cigarette," Skyler muttered.

Mike empathized, but he said, "Okay. I'm going to pass around my notebook. Each of you will write one thing that you will do to prepare for the Winter Carnival. I will email this list to everyone later this morning. We'll arrange for a follow-up meeting to report on our progress in a few weeks or so. Any concerns?"

Lydia half-raised her hand and said, "Has anyone looked into the availability of the gym?"

"Why don't you write down that task next to your name?" Mike asked. Lydia looked annoyed, but did so when the notepad came to her.

"The school secretary owes me a favor, anyway," she said.

"Great. Have a good weekend, everyone," Mike said. He took his notepad, pencil, and newspaper home and sent out an email to his committee.

> Subject: Winter Carnival Tasks
> 
> Here's our to-do list.
> 
> Mike: beanbag toss  
>  Jesse: face paint for sensitive skin, paint standups for photos etc  
>  Skyler: network with teachers re: use of classroom supplies, seek corporate donations  
>  Walter: investigate options for safe, fun, STEM activities  
>  Lydia: look into availability for school gym; reopen analysis of financial stability of PTA funds; get clarity re: school allergen policies; provide list of available PTA resources
> 
> I'll send out a Doodle to figure out our next in person meeting. Until then, we can keep in touch by email. I beg you: please only send emails that are relevant to the Winter Carnival.
> 
> Mike  
> 

A few hours later, there was a reply-all from Lydia.

> Subject: RE: Winter Carnival Tasks
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> Here's what I've found out. We can reserve the gym for the afternoon of Saturday, December 12th. I believe this date will be ideal because it is not so close to Christmas. It is also available to us on Sunday the 13th, which I would prefer to avoid since many families have religious activities on Sundays. December 19th is also a possibility but I would prefer the 12th.
> 
> As a school fundraiser, we are exempt from the state regulations regarding the sale of food at eg farmer's markets. Nor do we need a food handler license. However, we would still do well to be cautious and consider our liability w/r/t allergens and foodborne diseases. I propose that we keep things simple and limit our food offerings to the following:  
>  Popcorn (I will look into borrowing a popcorn machine from one of the nearby middle or high schools, which sell concessions at sporting events)  
>  Shaved ice (I can provide shaved ice machine; I purchased one for Kiira's last birthday party)  
>  Beverages (canned/bottled)
> 
> After further examining the PTA budget, I believe I could allocate $50.00 in funding toward this event, which I propose we spend on stickers and other prizes for the carnival games. If it is a success, I believe we could recoup and make a profit of a few hundred dollars. (Assuming: there are 300 students, perhaps 100 will attend. We will charge $0.25 for game tickets and $1 for refreshments. Assume each family will spend an average of $5 is $500, minus cost of game prizes and base cost of refreshments. Could result in $400 profit for PTA. However, we must be vigilant about not going over budget, as last year's carnival did.)
> 
> As Gus said at the last PTA meeting, many of our event supplies were ruined in that unfortunate fire. However, we have some remaining items that I believe will be useful:  
>  Lollipop tree (** can be stocked with dye-free lollipops)  
>  Duck pond (some ducks are melted but most are fine)  
>  Half bag of balloon animal balloons
> 
> I trust you will all find this information useful. 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Lydia Rodarte-Quayle  
>  Head of Logistics  
>  Madrigal Electromotive GmbH  
> 

That evening, Mike checked his email and let out an appreciative hum.

He replied-all:

> Subject: RE: RE: Winter Carnival Tasks  
>  Thanks, Lydia.
> 
> I think the 12th sounds good. Your proposed refreshments sound reasonable. Good information.
> 
> Mike  
> 

The next morning his inbox was a flurry of quibbles. Skyler double-checked Lydia's math and thought they could charge more for game tokens. Jesse wanted to keep prices low as possible so kids could play more games. Jesse also wanted to know if he could paint life-size standups of the characters from _Frozen_ or if Disney would "sue his ass." (General consensus there was that he should go ahead with it, as Disney likely had bigger fish to fry.)

But overall, everyone reported progress. Mike felt that their winter carnival would be successful. At the very least, Kaylee could get another balloon animal, and so Mike would deem the event a personal success.

Over the next two months, Mike and his committee exchanged 723 emails (many of which were severely off-topic, despite Mike's best efforts) and had three more in person meetings, which were increasingly difficult to schedule.

Finally, December 12th arrived, and Mike went to the school at 10am to help set up, as had been agreed upon at their last email. The winter carnival was scheduled from 2-4pm, and Mike thought four hours of set up time was overkill, but it was good to allow padding in case any of the simmering inter-committee resentments broke out into actual violence. He mostly had his eyes on Skyler and Walter. He had come to understand that they'd both signed up for the same committee because they were competing to see who appeared to be the best parent. He wished one of them had gotten involved in some other way. Walter, specifically, he could have done without.

He and his committee started setting up tables and booths in the gym. It looked very nice. Jesse had gone all out and made a glittery ice castle and some _Frozen_ characters for decorations. Lydia was atop a ladder hanging sparkly snowflakes from the ceiling when the power went out in the gym. The emergency lights clicked on almost immediately, but it was still dim.

"Mike," she called, because he was the closest.

"Uh, hang on, let me get a flashlight or something."

"No, it's--just hold the ladder, please." 

"You need a flashlight?" Jesse said. He turned on his smartphone's flash and aimed it at them.

Lydia didn't sound too good. Mike thought maybe she was having a panic attack. He held the ladder for her and said, "Okay, Lydia, it's okay. Just breathe."

"It's not… that easy," she said, as she unsteadily made her way back down.

"Lydia, listen, it's fine," Mike said. When he'd been a cop, he'd had to calm down distraught witnesses and victims. He wasn't especially good at it. "We're fine. Just breathe in, and out, and we'll go outside and figure out what's next."

He put an arm around her shoulder gingerly and guided her out into the playground. Her breathing normalized when they reached the fresh air, and she stepped away from him, looking slightly embarrassed.

Walter said, "I called the power company. I guess a transformer blew. Maybe a bird flew into it or something."

"Did they say how long it would take to fix it?" Skyler asked.

"Could be hours," Walter said with a shrug.

"Yeah, one time the transformer blew on our block and it took them all day to fix it," Jesse said.

Mike looked at his watch. "Well, we have two hours until kids get here. I guess if it's not back by 2, we can try to reschedule for next Saturday?"

Lydia shook her head. "Families are going to have other plans for next Saturday! There are too many holiday parties to compete with." She pulled her smart phone out of her pocket and frowned at it. "It's warm for December, in the 50s. And the weather's supposed to be clear all afternoon. What if we had the carnival outside?"

"Do you think we have time to move everything in two hours?" Walter asked.

"Not if we stand around yapping," Mike said. "Lydia's right. Let's have it outside. We can set everything up around the blacktop."

Jesse and Lydia sent out a few texts to recruit friends and other PTA members, and motivated by mild panic, the committee relocated everything almost outside in less time than it had taken to set up in the gym.

Surveying the scene, Lydia exclaimed, "Oh, the popcorn machine!" 

Mike examined it and said, "I have a backup generator at home. I bet we could run it off of that."

"Why do you have a backup generator?" Skyler asked.

"I like being prepared," Mike replied.

"Smart," Lydia said. "Yes, go get your generator! We only have half an hour!"

"Easy, Lydia. If I'm not back by then, the kids can walk around and play games while they wait for the popcorn to pop. It'll be fine."

"Fine. Yes," she said. 

"Call me if you think of anything else we need," Mike said. 

When he arrived back at the school, the carnival was in full swing. Kids were throwing bean bags, picking up ducks, and scream-singing "Let it Go" at the cardboard Elsa Jesse had painted. He tuned out the noise so he could focus on setting up the generator. Once it was up and running, Lydia helped him set up the popcorn machine and the shaved ice.

"I think this is all going rather well," Lydia said, pouring red syrup over a cup of shaved ice.

"I agree. Thanks for all your help," Mike said.

Lydia shrugged, but she looked pleased. "I'm happy to help with school fundraisers, of course. I--I'm sorry I wanted to cancel it, originally. I just didn't want to repeat the mistakes of my predecessor."

Mike nodded. "Well, for what it's worth, I think you're much more qualified to be PTA treasurer than Saul Goodman was."

"Really? Thank you for saying so," Lydia said. 

Mike nodded in response, then sold a bag of popcorn to Gus and his partner, Max. Their son gleefully ate a blue snow cone and showed his tongue to Lydia, who grimaced.

Then Kaylee and her mom approached the concession stand. "Pop Pop!" Kaylee said happily. "Look! I got a rainbow on my face! And a balloon! And Stephanie got one just like it," she added, gesturing at the little girl behind her.

"That's great, Junebug! What kind of animal is that? A zebra? A wallaby? A parrot?"

"Pop Pop, you're silly. It's a _puppy_!"

"Oh, so it is. Now, what kind of snow cone do you want, red or blue?"

"It's cherry or blue raspberry," Lydia corrected.

"Red, please," Kaylee said. She handed over four quarters and Lydia gave her the snow cone. "Thank you!" she said. "Pop Pop, when you're done making popcorn for everyone, you should come play duck pond with me!"

"Okay, Kaylee, I will," Mike said. After she left, he asked Lydia, "Where's Kiira?"

"Oh, she should be here any minute. She's with her nanny today. She--she doesn't usually work on Saturdays, but we worked something out, just for today. Look, I've got this under control, why don't you go play with Kaylee for a little while?"

"All right," Mike said. "Then I can cover here when Kiira comes." 

Lydia smiled gratefully, and Mike went to play duck pond with Kaylee. He won a sticker with a Disney Princess on it, which he tried to give to Kaylee. "No, Pop Pop, you won it! Put it on your shirt!" 

He did, and he felt that the smile on Kaylee's face made all of the 723 emails he'd exchanged worthwhile. 

The next day, the count went up to 725.

> To: Winter Carnival Committee  
>  Subject: Winter Carnival Totals
> 
> I'm pleased to report that our Winter Carnival raised $802.25, after expenses. I've attached an Excel spreadsheet with a breakdown of the data.
> 
> Thanks to all of you for your hard work for Marie Curie Elementary School.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Lydia Rodarte-Quayle  
>  Head of Logistics  
>  Madrigal Electromotive GmbH  
> 

  


> To: Mike Ehrmantraut  
>  Subject: PTA
> 
> Dear Mike,
> 
> I appreciate your dedication to Marie Curie Elementary School's PTA. Next year, the position of PTA Secretary will be available, and I think you should consider running for it. Please think about it.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Lydia  
> 


End file.
